


Embrace the Cliche

by bella8876



Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-13
Updated: 2010-10-13
Packaged: 2017-10-12 15:48:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/126523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bella8876/pseuds/bella8876
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's more cliche than a last minute run through the airport followed by a grand romantic gesture?  Not much but Chloe's going to do it anyway.  Inspired by the beautiful picture below.  One-Shot.</p><p>Disclaimer:  Do not own the characters or anything else from Smallville.  Also I don't own the picture, it was made by the lovely and talented tehzo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Embrace the Cliche

 

 

 

Oliver pulled his phone out of his pocket and sighed.  It was still dead.  Just like it had been five minutes ago and five minutes before that.  Logically he knew that there was no way that it would miraculously regain a charge while inside his pocket, he still checked.  Even if Chloe did call, he wouldn’t know until he got to Star City. 

 

Of course there was a phone on his plane, not to mention an entire cabinet filled with various chargers for his various electronic devices, but his plane was in Sweden with the guys who were checking out a supposedly defunct 33.1 for activity.  He hadn’t wanted to selfishly call the plane back just to fly him an hour and half to California so he was flying the wonderful skies with United Airlines this morning.

 

None of this was keeping him from calling Chloe.  He could find another phone if he wanted.  Granted, he wasn’t sure, in this day and age where everyone carried cell phones, even kids, if they even had pay phones anymore.  The lady at the counter would probably let him use the official airline phone if he showed her a bit of dimple but he wasn’t in the mood to flirt.  He could probably borrow a phone from another passenger but that would require talking to someone else and that could very likely lead to someone recognizing him and he just honestly couldn’t handle another sad face or comforting pat on his shoulder this morning.  And if he did call her, he wasn’t sure what exactly he would say to her.  He’s pretty sure it had all been said the night before. 

 

The woman next to him flipped the page on the newspaper and Oliver slid further down in his seat, wondering if it would be more or less suspicious to pull his hood up over his head.  He stared at the headline that stared back at him, unable to look away. 

 

 **_Oliver Queen Jilted at own Party!_ **

****

He looked at the accompanying picture.  It really was a perfect snapshot of one of the worst moments of his life.  He was standing, a glass of champagne in one hand, a ring box in the other and a look of pure unadulterated pain on his face, with small amounts of confusion and disbelief thrown in.  The photographer had snapped the photo at the exact second after Chloe had turned down his very public marriage proposal.  If you looked really hard at the bottom corner of the picture, you’d see a small blur of blonde hair.  That would be Chloe running, not walking, but running away from the ballroom as fast as her Jimmy Choo’s could carry her. 

 

He’d followed her a second later and they’d fought in the parking lot.  Then she’d left.  Gotten in _his_ car and left him standing alone in the parking lot of his own birthday party.  His driver said he dropped her off at the Kent Farm but when he called no one answered.  When he called Lois and Clark’s phones, no one answered.  Then his phone had died and now here he was, waiting for his plane to board. 

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

Chloe shifted her weight once again, resisting the urge to scream and the older couple in front of her.  They’d been at the counter for almost thirty minutes now.  While the elderly gentleman tried to haggle with the agent on ticket price, his wife regaled them all with stories of how she was going to visit her first great-grandchild and how she was seventy five years old and this was going to be her first time flying, ever.  While Chloe personally thought that the story was very sweet, she was on a deadline.  When the couple finally stepped to the side to make their way through security Chloe found that after all her time anxiously awaiting her turn at the front of the line, she couldn’t actually make herself move forward. 

 

Luckily she had her cousin there with her.  “Come on.”  Lois said, planting her palms squarely on Chloe’s back and shoved her hard.  Chloe stumbled forward, slamming into the counter and drawing the attention of everyone around them. 

 

“May I help you?”  The woman at the counter smiled hesitantly at her. 

 

 

“Yes.”  Lois told her sternly. 

 

“I mean seriously?”  Chloe bit her lip.  “You see it all the time in movies and on TV shows and it’s a bit…cliché isn’t it?” 

 

“It’s cliché for a reason, because it works.”  Lois said.

 

“Well it works in the movies and on TV but probably not so much in real life.  I mean you don’t see it very often do you?”  Chloe turned back to Amy.  “In real life right?”

 

“See what?”  Amy asked confused. 

 

“You know a girl rushing through the airport, hoping to get to the gate before her boyfriends plane leaves so that she can very publically humiliate herself and then they can kiss and make up and live happily ever after.”  Chloe said in a hurry. 

 

Lois was frantically shaking her head yes and Amy stared at her in confusion before turning to Chloe.  “No, actually I’ve worked here for almost seven years now and I’ve never seen that happen.” 

 

“Seriously?”  Lois asked.  “In seven years not once?” 

 

“No.”  Amy shook her head.  “I mean it is sort of cliché you know.” 

 

“Thank you.”  Chloe said. 

 

“Who cares.”  Lois snapped annoyed.  “Of course it’s cliché, love is cliché but you know what you need to do Chloe?  You need to embrace the cliché.  You need to grab it and squeeze it because you screwed up, like seriously last night and his plane leaves in twenty minutes and he’s not answering his phone so you need to do this.” 

 

“Right.”  Chloe nodded.  “Embrace the cliché.”  She turned to Amy.  “I need one ticket on the next flight out to Star City please.”  Lois coughed behind her and Chloe turned around.  “Seriously?”

 

“Oh come on I drive you all the way out here and I don’t get to see what happens?  Not cool.  A ticket’s the only way to get past security.”  Lois reminded her. 

 

“Fine.”  Chloe turned back to Amy.  “Two tickets.” 

 

“Right.”  Amy started typing. 

 

“And just so you know,”  Chloe turned back to Lois, “I was not the only one who screwed up last night.” 

 

“You’re right, but you’re the one who ran away.”  Lois nudged her cousin’s shoulder affectionately and Chloe conceded that she had a point. 

 

“Ok, and how many bags will you be checking?”  Amy asked them. 

 

“None.”  Chloe said. 

  
“Carry-on’s?”  Amy frowned.

 

“Nope.”  Chloe shook her head. 

 

“Hmmm.”  Amy stopped typing and looked up at Chloe and Lois and then at the man further down the counter from them. 

 

“What hmmm?”  Chloe asked. 

 

“It’s just without any bags, I’m going to have to flag you.”  Amy said biting her lip and explained further.  “When a passenger requests a last minute ticket with no checked bags and no carry-on’s, I’m supposed to flag them for security purposes.” 

 

“That’s ridiculous.”  Lois scoffed.  “We’re not terrorists.” 

 

“I know.”  Amy sighed. 

 

“I mean first of all, look at us.”  Lois kept going motioning to Chloe and herself.  “We’re like the least likely people ever to be terrorists.  Second of all, if we have no bags, and we check no bags, then what exactly could we be bringing on the flight?” 

 

“Well that’s why I have to flag you.”  Amy looked down the counter at a man who appeared to be her boss.  “Because if you’ve got no bags the only place to hide things is…”  Amy looked Lois up and down.

 

“A cavity search?  You’re going to tag us for a cavity search!”  Her voice rose slightly higher than she would have liked. 

 

“Ok but that will take forever, I don’t have that kind of time.”  Chloe panicked, less at the thought of some guy from airport security checking to see if she was stowing something away in her most private of private areas and more at the time that said cavity search would take.

 

“Just…one minute ok.”  Lois slipped away from the counter and jogged to the closest news agent.  Chloe watched her grab handfuls of random things, magazines, newspapers, candy, shot glasses and key chains and dump them, along with two small sized tote bags onto the counter. 

 

“So is that what you’re really doing?”  Amy asked Chloe.  “Chasing after your boyfriend to make a grand statement or something?”

 

“Or something.”  Chloe nodded.  “It’s probably not going to even work, I mean I did screw up really badly.” 

 

“It couldn’t have been so bad.”  Amy offered. 

 

The woman behind the counter at the news agent seemed dubious but rang everything up.  Lois stuffed it all into the two bags and then ran back to the ticket counter, slightly out of breath and dumped them in front of Amy.  “There, two carry-ons.”  Lois doubled over, grabbing at a stitch in her side as she tried to catch her breath.

 

“Great.”  Amy sagged in relief.  “Did someone else pack these bags for you?” 

 

Lois froze and looked at her like she was insane.  “I just packed them, you saw me.”

 

“So that’s a no then.”  Amy typed something.  “Have these bags been out of _your_ sight since you packed them?” 

 

“You just watched…these bags haven’t been out of your sight since I packed them.”  Lois reminded her.

 

“I have to ask.”  Amy told her apologetically.  “Alright, everything’s in order I just need a credit card.” 

 

Chloe passed over her card and Amy stopped. She looked at the card, then at Chloe then at the stack of magazines on the counter, one of them with a picture of her and Oliver that looked like it was torn down the middle and a caption that read: **_Star City’s Most Eligible Bachelor Eligible Again?_**   “You’re Chloe Sullivan.”  Amy said. 

 

“Yes.”  She grabbed the copy of OK! And wondered how they managed to get the story to print so fast, they must have bumped someone else off the cover. 

 

“Did you really just leave him standing there when he proposed? On his birthday.”  Amy asked, running the card through.

 

“One, it was his birthday party, his birthday was two weeks ago.  Two, there’s so much more to it than that.”  Chloe argued, trying to defend herself.  Everyone loved Oliver and so automatically, everyone took his side.  She’d been getting threatening phone calls all morning to the point where she had to turn off her phone; someone egged her door and her car. 

 

Even her elderly neighbor Mrs. Cohen, who had never had anything but a kind word for Chloe had scoffed when she finally dragged herself back to the Watchtower earlier that morning and said, “So what?  Suddenly you’re too good for him?  You should be so lucky.”   Then she spit at Chloe’s feet, actually spit at her. 

 

“We don’t have time to get into this.”  Lois stopped Chloe from expounding on all the ways that Oliver was wrong in this situation.  Amy glared but she handed Chloe the tickets anyway. 

 

“Thank you.”  Chloe said seriously and headed off to the security checkpoint.  Lois followed after her, the two makeshift carry-on bags in her hand. 

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

“I never thought that girl was right for you.”  The woman said patting Oliver’s leg gently, in an almost motherly fashion.

 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  From the moment he and Chloe had gone public with their relationship she’d been touted in the press as “the best thing to happen to Oliver Queen”.  Yet now, all morning everyone from the woman on the view to strangers were saying that Chloe wasn’t good enough for him, that they never really liked her, that he could do so much better.  The truth was he couldn’t. 

 

After taking some time to distance himself from the situation he’d realized that Chloe was right about a few things and that he did shoulder some of the blame in this situation and he wasn’t even really mad at her.  Sure she probably could have handled the situation a bit better, maybe not declined him so publically, but she was right to decline him.  He opened his mouth to tell the woman all this but he never got a chance.

 

“Oliver?”  A very tentative, very familiar voice sounded over the airport intercom system.  “I know you’re out there somewhere.  Your assistant told me you were flying out to Star City this morning at nine but he wouldn’t tell me which airline or which flight and there are like seven different ones, and we got caught up in security so I don’t have time to check them all so…I figured this was the best way to get your attention.  There’s something I need to say to you before you go, and if you still want to leave…I’ll understand…but I can’t let you go without knowing you know this.”  Oliver stood up and looked around the airport, trying to figure out where Chloe was. 

 

  

  1. And I’m realizing now that it’s probably going to be tomorrow’s headline on the front page of the gossip section.”  
  



 

“She’s at the information desk.”  The woman from before laid a soft hand on Oliver’s arm, pulling him from his thoughts and motioning down the hall.  Oliver followed her finger and sure enough, there she was, standing on the counter at the information desk with the microphone in her hands, a crowd gathering around her.

 

“Thanks.” Oliver said and headed toward the crowd. 

 

“It’s the truth though.”  Chloe continued on.  “I want to have your babies.  I want to have tiny little versions of you running around and I want to buy a house and have a swing set in the back yard and go on family vacations and…”  Her breath catches in her throat as she notices him, standing just at the edge of the crowd that’s gathered.  He looked deliciously rumbled in his favorite green hoodie and brown leather jacket  “And I want to do all that with you.”  She says to him. 

 

“What changed your mind?”  Oliver called to her.  Everyone turned around to stare at him. 

 

“Well…”  She paused.  “Could we maybe go talk about this somewhere in private?” 

 

“No.”  Oliver shook his head.  “I poured my heart out to you in a very public manner last night and you left me hanging.”

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

 _Oliver couldn’t help staring across the ballroom at Chloe.  She looked fantastic in the dress he’d bought her.  Her cheeks were flushed red, probably from the champagne and she was smiling and laughing, charming the pants off of Monty, the head of his board of directors whom Oliver had very rarely ever even seen crack a smile.  It still caught him by surprises sometimes, how much in love with this girl he was._

 _“If you’ll excuse me.” He murmured to whoever he’d been talking to.  It was horrible that he couldn’t even manage to pay attention to his own guests, but with Chloe around he found he could rarely pay attention to anyone but her._

 _He stepped into the empty spot beside her, sliding his hand along the small of her back which was completely bare, causing her to shiver jus slightly.  He’d have to make a point to tell her he really loved this dress.  She never wavered from her story however.  “So we’re standing there in the shallow end of the pool, trying to look innocent, like we belong there, like it’s perfectly acceptable to be taking a leisurely swim at two in the morning, in the middle of February, in formal evening wear and the entire Royal family is staring back at us from the patio, in their robes.  Harry’s trying not to laugh and William keeps elbowing him in the side and even Charles’ lip is quivering as he helps me out of the water and I’m shiver so badly that my teeth start to chatter.”_

 _“Suddenly Her Majesty heaves out this very put upon sigh and says, “I suppose you ought to get them some towels before they freeze to death.” And everyone scrambles to find something, but it’s the middle of winter so there’s nothing in the pool house and it’s just her and Charles and I’m still shivering so Charles slips out of his robe and wraps it around my shoulders.  I look over and Oliver’s turning purple.  His hair is starting to ice, and before I can offer to share my robe with him, Her Majesty’s thrown hers off and is tossing it over his shoulders.  It’s pink and fluffy and it barely goes below his hips and she mumbled, “If one wants something done right, one must do it herself.” Before storming off back into the house.”_

 _Monty roars with laughter and Oliver cringes remembering someone coming back with a hand full of towels only to drop them in the pool when they caught sight of him in the Queen’s robe.  He’s also almost positive that Harry snapped a picture or two with his phone.  “I’ve got pictures somewhere, I’ll have to send them to you.”  Chloe says._

 _“Well I know what to get you this year for Christmas I think.”  Monty says, pounding Oliver on the back.  If there’s one thing he loves more than making fun of Oliver, it’s the Queen Mother and Chloe knows that.  It’s probably why she chose that story and not one of the many other’s she could have given him as ammunition._

 _“She let me keep it you know.”  Oliver said offhandedly.  “It’s hanging up in a closet somewhere, it was actually very toasty.”  Monty just laughed harder and Oliver took that opportunity to sneak a soft kiss from Chloe.  “I’m going to make my toast now.”_

 _“Ok, I’ll be right over.”  Chloe assured him and he made his way to the front of the room.  The DJ got the attention of everyone in the hall and a waiter handed him a fresh glass of champagne just as Chloe walked up to stand beside him._

 _“ I just wanted to thank everyone here today.  I hope that you had a good time and if you didn’t well, I don’t really care, it’s my birthday, all that really matters is that I had a good time.”  Everyone laughs and Chloe nudges him in the side.  “I’m just kidding.  It truly means a lot to me that you would be here to celebrate with me.  I think of all of you like family.  I didn’t really have one growing up, after my parents died but all of you here have adopted me into your own families and for that I am grateful.”  A cheer went up in the crowd._

 _“And one day, hopefully soon, I’ll make my own family.”  He looked over at Chloe.  “A few kids, running around the backyard.  Pushing them on the swing set, taking family vacations…and I can’t imagine anyone else I’d want by my side for all of that than you.”  Chloe had lowered her champagne glass and was looking at Oliver in confusion.  “So, even though she’s already given a birthday gift.”  Oliver thought about the awesome new crossbow that Chloe had presented him with the week before. “It would truly make me the happiest person in the world if you would give me just one more gift tonight.”  Oliver pulled a small turquoise box out of his pocket and opened it up.  A perfect little ring was nestled in side and Chloe couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of it.  “Chloe will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”_

 _  
“Oliver I…” She tore her eyes away from the box to him, then at the crowd of people gathered, waiting for her answer.  “I’m sorry.”  She said suddenly before turning and running from the stage.  Oliver stood, staring after her, unable to believe what had just happened._

 _Lois jumped up next to him and grabbed the microphone.  “Uh, folks, we’ve got some…we’re going to….”  She turned to Oliver and shoved him.  “Go after her idiot.”  She said before he came to his senses and took off running.  “How about some more dancing?”  Lois asked, passing the mic back to the DJ who started up the music again._

 _“Chloe!”  Oliver called out, finally catching up to her in the parking lot where she was pacing back and forth.  “Why did you run?”_

 _“Why did I run?”  Chloe asks, breathing heavily.  Oliver doesn’t know if it’s from the run or from panic.  “What the hell was that?”_

 _“That was me proposing.”  Oliver said confused.  “And then you running away, why did you run away?”_

 _“Why did you propose?”  Chloe asked him angrily._

 _“Because I want to marry you.”  Oliver said and Chloe started pacing again.  “Why did you run?”_

 _  
“Because this is all just too soon.”  Chloe said.  “We don’t even live in the same state half the time because neither of us is willing to move so you can’t just spring marriage on me like this.”_

 _“This can’t come as a surprise to you, we’ve talked about this.”  Oliver shook his head._

 _“No, we’ve talked about marriage, in a very abstract, yes-some-day-we-possibly-want-to-get-married-to-someone-someday sort of thing.  We’ve never talked about us getting married and we’ve never talked about all that other stuff.”  Chloe reminded him._

 _“What other stuff?”  Oliver frowned._

 _“The house and the kids and the swing set and the vacations.”  Chloe said, on the verge of hyperventilating now.  “We’ve never talked about that.”_

 _“Well, no but I just assumed-“_

 _“Well don’t.”  Chloe snapped at him.  “Don’t just assume stuff, not stuff like that, not the big stuff Oliver.”_

 _“What’s the big deal?”  He asked._

 _“The big deal is I don’t even know if I want to have kids.”  Chloe says, stunning him into silence.  She softens a bit at the look on his face.  “This is why you have to talk about these things.  I didn’t know you wanted kids.”_

 _“I do.”  Oliver said._

 _“I don’t.”  Chloe offered.  “Or I don’t think I want them.”_

 _“Why not?”  Oliver asked, his whole world practically crashing down around him._

 _“God Oliver our lives are dangerous do you get that?  And this world, I mean the fact that we have to do what we do shows what a screwed up place it is and I can’t even imagine bringing a kid into it.  Not to mention we still don’t know a lot about the meteor infections, we don’t know if they’re hereditary.  I can’t risk inflicting on some poor unsuspecting child what was done to me.”_

 _“Ok, I get that I do Chloe, but we’ll learn more about it and we’ll weigh the risks.  And we do what we do to make this world a better place.”  Oliver was practically begging her now.  “This isn’t…we can talk about this.”_

 _“You shouldn’t have put me on the spot like that.”  Chloe shook her head before climbing in Oliver’s car and driving away, leaving him to go back inside and deal with the fall out._

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

“It was really humiliating, so I think whatever you have to say, you should say right there.  In front of everyone.”  Oliver slipped his hands into his jacket pocket and waited.

 

“Ok.”  Chloe nodded.  “Fine, that’s fine.  It’s fair I suppose.  I know I said last night that I didn’t want to have kids, that I didn’t want to bring a kid into this world but I realized something after about my fourth martini.  I wouldn’t be brining _a_ kid into this world.  I’d be bringing _our_ kid into this world.” 

 

Oliver smiled up at her.  “And I know that it seems like it’s too soon but it’s not, it’s so not when you think about how short life is and all those other things I said were just excuses because I was scared.”

“Why were you scared?” Oliver asked confused. 

 

“Because I know how much you love me, I know how much you love me because I love you that much.  I love you so much that it hurts sometimes and the thought, that you feel that way about me, it’s scary.”  Chloe admits.  “It’s scary because what if I disappoint you?  What if I’m not enough?  What if I can’t be the person you want me to be?” 

 

“I don’t want you to be anyone.”  Oliver shook his head.  “I want you to be Chloe and you’re pretty good at that.”

 

“Really?”  Chloe asked, hopefully.

 

“Really.”  Oliver laughed at her.

 

“So you’re not leaving?”  Chloe looked from him to the gate. 

 

“I’m not…”  Oliver frowned at her for a second before he understood.  “I wasn’t leaving you Chloe.  I have a Shareholders meeting in Star City tomorrow.  It’s been on the books for a while, I couldn’t get out of it.  I was coming back.” 

 

“Oh.”  Chloe felt her face turn bright red and she vaguely remembered Oliver mentioning something about a meeting to her a few weeks ago.  “So this was pretty much…pointless.”

 

“No.”  Oliver shook his head.  “Not pointless.  We’re even now.”  He motioned around at the crowd.  “And I have quite a few witnesses to attest to the fact that you want to have my babies.” 

 

“Jerk.”  Chloe said but the barb was softened by the brilliant smile on her face, she wasn’t sure she could be anymore in love with him than she was at that very moment.  “Ask me again.”  She said suddenly and everyone turned to Oliver. 

 

“No.”  He said, caught slightly off guard.  “You were right last night, it was too soon.” 

 

“No it wasn’t.”  Chloe corrected him.  “I thought saying yes to marriage meant saying yes to everything else, right away, but it doesn’t.  All that other stuff, the babies and the house and the family and the swing set, and the vacations, all of that will come, in its own time, when it’s supposed to.  When it does, I want to be Mrs. Oliver Queen.”  Oliver just stared at her speechless.  “So ask me again.”

 

“Ok.”  Oliver smiled and pushed his way through the crowd of people until he was standing in front of Chloe.  He reached up his hands sliding along her waist, and lifted her down off of the counter, setting her softly on her feet in front of him.  “You sure you want me to do this?”

 

“Yes.”  Chloe nodded, her hands splayed out on his chest to steady herself.

 

“Here, in front of all these people?”  He clarified.

 

“Yes.”  Chloe said with a nervous laugh. 

 

“Marry me.”  Oliver whispered.

 

“Yes.”  She whispered back, her eyes sparkling. 

 

Oliver couldn’t help it.  His hands moved from her hips, up her back until they were cradling her head and he pulled her toward him in an urgent kiss.  Her right hand curled in the fabric of his hoodie as her left hand trailed up his chest onto his cheek, holding him in place.  He pulled away, just far enough to look into her eyes and stared at her for a second.  “Did we just get engaged?”  He asked slightly breathless.  Chloe nodded.  “In an airport?”  Chloe nodded again and then he saw something out of the corner of his eye.  “Is that Lois?” 

 

Chloe laughed this time, tossing her head back, unable to hold it in any longer.  “Can we go somewhere private now.” 

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

Chloe opened her eyes in protest as the mattress shifted.  She blinked in confusion for a few seconds wondering where exactly she was when it all came back to her.  Oliver had proposed and she’d said yes and then suddenly they were at the airport hotel, stumbling into the room Oliver had gotten them and clothes were discarded and well, the rest was one fantastic blur.  She was going to be sore for days.  She watched as Oliver slid the green hoodie on and then sat on the edge of the bed to pull his shoes on.  “You’re leaving?”  Chloe asked, sitting up in the bed, pulling the sheet with her in an attempt to cover herself up. 

 

  

  1. You’ll barely miss me.”  
  



 

“That’s four days.”  Chloe kissed him again, this time letting herself fall back onto the mattress pulling him on top of her, earning only a week protest.  “I can’t be away from you for four days.”  She reminded him, pulling his t-shirt out of his pants and sliding a hand up against his chest. 

 

“Right.”  Oliver closed his eyes.  “Tell me to stay.” 

 

Chloe pulled back to stare at him, amusement on her face.  “What?  I was just kidding.”

“Tell me to stay and I’ll stay.”  Oliver said seriously.

 

“I can’t do that.”  She shook her head. 

Oliver kissed her again and smiled against her lips.  “Sure you can, it’s easy, just one word.  Stay.”

 

“I can say the word, but I can’t ask you to stay.”  Chloe shook her head. 

 

“You can, screw the meeting.  I’ll just stay here in this room, in this bed with you forever.”  Oliver whispered, pulling the hoodie off.

Chloe groaned.  “That would be nice.”  Oliver smiled.  “But I can’t do that.”  Oliver wove one hand into her hair and pulled her into an even deeper kiss.  He used his free hand to pull the sheet away from her and Chloe shivered at the sudden contact of cold air on skin but then Oliver was there, covering her with his body.  She pulled away panting.  “Ok, stay.” 

 

“Ok.”  Oliver agreed, sliding a knee between her legs, forcing her to hook her ankle on his.  After a minute he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.  “I can’t stay.” 

 

“I know.”  Chloe laughed, dropping a soft peck to his lips. 

 

“You could come with me.”  Oliver offered. 

 

“I’ve got to be at the Watchtower when the guys get back.”  Chloe reminded him.  “It’ll be fine, now find my bra, I’ll walk you to the airport.  Hopefully Lois is still there, cause if she’s not I have no idea how I’m going to get home.” 

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

  

  1. “I’ll call you when I land.” Oliver placed another soft kiss on Chloe and Lois groaned.   
  



 

“I’ll answer.”  Chloe assured him. 

 

“Oh.”  Oliver dug in the pocket of his leather jacket until he emerged with a small turquoise ring box.  “I almost forgot.”  He opened it up and pulled the ring out and slid it onto her finger.  “I really like the way that looks on you.” 

 

“I like the way it feels on me.”  Chloe smiled at him.  “Hey, if the guys get back soon enough, I might take the plane up to Star City and surprise you.” 

 

“Maybe when you surprise me you should be wearing the ring, and only the ring.”  Oliver waggled his eyebrows at her and Chloe laughed.

 

“Ok, that’s enough.  It’s very sickeningly cute but I’m tired and hungry.” Lois called from over Chloe’s shoulder and Oliver smiled at her. 

 

“I’m going to miss you too Lois.”  Oliver winked on his way to the gate and Lois rolled her eyes. 

 

“Let me see.”  Lois held out her hand and stared at the ring on Chloe’s finger.  “Perfect, of course it is.  And it’s from Tiffany’s.  Talk about embracing the cliché.” 

 

“Hey you told me to embrace the cliché.”  Chloe reminded her. 

 

“I know but come on Chloe.”  Lois nudged her cousin’s shoulder.  “Your whole relationship is one big cliché.  I’m mean right off the bat you’ve got the Cinderella thing going for you; you a poor lowly reporter, him a handsome billionaire business man.  On top of that you guys had that whole friends with benefits, no strings attached thing that always, always leads to both parties falling madly in love with each other.  Ad in the over the top proposal cliché and you guys hit the trifecta.  You’ll probably end up with a perfect house in the suburbs with two point five perfect kids and you’ll be ridiculously happy.” 

 

“You know what?  If that’s embracing the cliché…I can’t wait.”  Chloe smiled happily.  She knew she probably looked like a maniac but she didn’t care.  “Wait, how do you have two point five kids?”  Chloe asked.  “I always wondered that.”

 

“I don’t know.  I can’t ever remember if it’s two kids and one on the way or two kids and a dog.”  Lois said.

 

“A dog counts as half a kid?”  Chloe looked at her cousin.  “On what scale?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
